Robert Rice

professor of history

on faculty since 1979

Phone: 708.239.4749
Fax: 708.597.5858
E-mail: robert.rice@trnty.edu

Education

Ph.D., University of Illinois-Urbana, Urbana, Illinois, 1979
M.A., University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, 1970
B.A., Houghton College, Houghton, New York, 1969

Professional and Personal Interests

Vacations were more than just a relaxing way to spend time together for the family of Dr. Robert Rice. As a young man growing up in Lyons, New York, he developed a genuine interest in, and deep appreciation for, United States and world history with all its nuances, milestones, and heroes. Living in the Northeast made it possible for him to travel to important sites where key events that shaped the nation’s development occurred.

 “My family would take me to museums, public works projects, and colonial American settings. We tried to be sensitive to a variety of cultures and traditions.
  
“Reading about other cultures and countries has always fascinated me. I was a radio and TV news addict as a teen and wanted to see the connections between world events. That helped me learn more about history.”
  
Rice, who is blind, graduated from Houghton College in his home state with a bachelor’s degree in history. He followed that by attaining his master’s and doctoral degrees in history from the University of Illinois. Trinity welcomed him to its faculty in 1979 as a history professor.
  
Rice enjoys teaching and works hard to build a sense of community among his students. 

“It’s not just what we study. Being a Christian community is also important, being interdependent and learning to trust each other so that we can work through some things, wonder about them, and even disagree.
   
“God made His world, and Christ centers our lives. He also wants to center our economic choices, our public policies, and our culture. God continues to renew His world and opens it for us to study and participate in. That kind of faith statement is not so common in history. It’s not just humanity unfolding history, but it’s also God who frames it and directs it.”
   
Along with his wife, Gail, Rice is active in community and social concerns. The couple lives in Palos Heights, Illinois, and attends Hope Christian Reformed Church in Oak Forest, Illinois.

Courses Taught

• 20th Century Europe
• America and Western Civilization
• Europe and Western Civilization
• History of Russia from Peter the Great to the Present
• Modern Britain
• Sociology of Development
• The West and the World in the 20th Century
• World Geography

Professional Society Membership

• Conference on Faith and History